【What proof do you have that it’s the wrong answer?】

“Wrong… It’s not something you can just say.”

【Then how do you want me to prove it?】

“By comparison. You can tell me what you believe the true weakness of the Eternal Life Church is, and we can compare it with my answer. The result will be obvious.”

Number 3 spread its hands.

【Trying to bait me into saying it? I won’t tell you. It’s not like telling you would threaten us, but I won’t follow your line of thought.】

【All you administrators, do you agree with Xu Fang’s answer? Those in favor, raise your hands.】

The other immortals remained silent.

【No one agrees. How about that?】

“Truth is often held by the minority. What’s the point of asking only the immortals? Why not open a channel to the real world and ask what humanity thinks?”

The administrators exchanged glances.

【That’s absurd. What channel to the real world?】

【Stop dreaming. The immortal world is reality.】

【That proposal is utterly ridiculous. Even if we had the ability, we wouldn’t do something like that.】

Number 3 motioned for the others to be quiet.

【Xu Fang, I’ve thrown the question back to you. I’ve already proven that “immortality” isn’t the answer. You should provide a better one. If you can’t, then I’m right.】

Number 3 was quite cunning. Without anyone noticing, it had shifted the argument over whether it was “yes” or “no” into one over whether something “existed” or “didn’t exist.”

Proving that something “doesn’t exist” is far more difficult than proving that it does. For example, proving that some kind of “unknown creature” exists is simple: finding the creature would be perfect proof. No matter how thoroughly you argued that it didn’t exist, anyone who believed it did could simply say that the “unknown creature” existed—you just hadn’t found it yet. So no matter how you tried to prove a negative, as long as the other side refused to concede, a logically complete proof was almost impossible.

“The devil’s proof”—a powerful finishing move in rhetoric and sophistry.

Xu Fang knew he was already standing at the edge of a cliff. If he lost, he’d have no chance of resisting ever again.

An endless script of malice awaited him.

His heart pounded wildly, sweat broke out on his forehead, and adrenaline surged.

Xu Fang didn’t dislike the feeling. The physical sensations of being human were far better than being an energy body as stagnant as a pool of dead water.

Xu Fang gathered his thoughts.

“Before proving this point, I want to explain the true nature of the Eternal Life Church.”

“One: Your immortality is built on ‘eating people.’ Sucking someone else’s blood can’t be considered true immortality.”

“Two: The author’s energy is converted into the ‘kinetic energy’ of the immortal world, making the immortal world move—iteration. Every iteration takes the immortal world farther from the real world. As long as the immortal world keeps moving, the flow of your time will stop.”

“Three: You can’t stray too far from the real world, or you won’t be able to obtain authors from reality. So the immortal world also has to draw closer to reality. Your method is ingenious: you force the author to use an item, causing the immortal world to fall back into reality.”

“Four: Once the immortal world began iterating, it became a bizarre event. Bound by the rules of bizarre events, your forces were kept in balance. Number 1, whose memories were erased, became one of the authors until it was eliminated.”

“Five: The immortal world has a hierarchy. Perhaps points, credit, or… something else determines your ranking. The closer you are to Number 1, the more authority you have. To prevent a single immortal from dominating and monopolizing all the immortal resources, you formed the Immortal Council. The first thirteen immortals became administrators and ruled the entire immortal world…”

The immortal administrators had originally watched Xu Fang like spectators watching a clown, eager to see what ridiculous story he would tell. But as Xu Fang gradually laid out his theory, their gazes began to change. His deductions were already infinitely close to the truth.

Xu Fang looked straight at all the immortals. His gaze seemed capable of hooking out a person’s soul, and for a moment, no one dared meet his eyes.

“The boundary-crossing test… It was originally meant to deal with authors, but you use it to maintain the Eternal Life Church’s rule. You deprive low-ranking immortals of their ability to think, turning them into walking corpses. You’re afraid that one day, the immortals will no longer want to remain immortal. So immortality is your weakness.”

【Nonsense… We’ve always followed the principle of the minority obeying the majority!】 Number 8 retorted.

“Oh? Then carry that principle through to the end.” Xu Fang continued, “Is immortality really what you seek? Do you truly desire immortality…?”

【“Do you truly desire immortality?” What a laughable multiple-choice question. I’ve had enough of your delirious ramblings. Don’t you want to live? If you don’t, then go die!】

“I hit your weak spot. Can you prove that I’m wrong?”

【Let’s vote.】 Number 3 said to the other immortals. 【Don’t you want to remain immortal?】

In an instant, there were nine votes against him. Only Number 7 voted in favor, while Numbers 1, 2, and 11 abstained.

【Well, Xu Fang? Do you have anything else to say?】

“That’s not enough. How can a vote among a minority count as ‘the minority obeying the majority’? Since we’re voting, then everyone should vote together!”

The moment he finished speaking, Xu Fang felt his neck tighten. A tremendous force hoisted him into the air.

The sensation of suffocation had only just reached him when Xu Fang dropped back to the ground.

【Number 3, follow the rules. I won’t give you a second warning.】 Number 1 stood between Xu Fang and the immortals.

Xu Fang clutched his neck and met Number 3’s savage gaze.

【Voting requires “contribution points.” Unfortunately, only the first hundred ranks in the immortal world have contribution points. So voting ends here!】 one of the immortals shouted.

Xu Fang said to Number 1, “Distribute the contribution points among all the immortals and let the vote continue.”

Continue…

Keep going…

……

Where am I?

Where is this place?

When Xu Fang came to his senses, he found himself in a void.

There was darkness nearby, and darkness in the distance. In this empty world, he alone gave off light.

He was swallowed by endless darkness.

What about the immortal administrators?

Xu Fang looked around. Aside from the void, there was nothing.

He started running, shouting as he went.

“Immortals, you’ve lost!”

“Honor your promise!”

But there was no reply. The empty world couldn’t even produce an echo.

“I get it. You want to throw me into the boundary-crossing test to stall for time?” Xu Fang sat down. “Patience is the one thing I have in abundance right now. Let’s see who can outlast whom.”

The empty world was utterly silent.

86,398, 86,399, 86,400…

Xu Fang counted the seconds in silence. A day passed.

There didn’t seem to be any concept of time here.

The world seemed to have returned to its original state. Xu Fang suddenly had a strange thought: Had he been abandoned?

Perhaps this wasn’t the immortal world or the real world, but the void beyond the Three Thousand Worlds.

An inexplicable anxiety rose in his heart. He got to his feet and ran in a certain direction. He ran, and ran, and ran.

He collapsed when his strength finally gave out. He didn’t know how far he’d run. The place was still an empty void, without even a coordinate anchor.

“Is anyone there?!!!”

He shouted with all his strength until his throat went hoarse.

Xu Fang thought of something. He bit down hard on his fingertip and saw the wound heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.

No. This was still the immortal world. Number 3 only wanted to make him think otherwise.

Death didn’t exist in the immortal world.

Xu Fang lay on the ground and continued counting the passage of time.

Time continued to flow through the silence.

Three months passed. Approximately.

He lost consciousness several times from exhaustion. Xu Fang could only count the time in his head whenever he was awake.

It was too quiet.

Though his body couldn’t die, his psychological suffering continued to accumulate.

Xu Fang curled up on the ground, his eyes losing focus.

He realized he was on the verge of breaking down, yet there was nothing he could do.

Time could change everything. This eternal void was slowly consuming his will.

……

How much more time had passed?

Xu Fang felt that at least ten years had gone by. He couldn’t calculate it precisely, because his consciousness often sank into dreams.

The world in his dreams was far more exciting than this place. Xu Fang experienced all kinds of things, with one plot twist after another.

He would wake with a start, only to realize it had all been a dream.

Sometimes, Xu Fang began to wonder whether this was the real world, and all his past experiences had merely been dreams.

……

And so, hundreds of years, thousands of years, and finally ten thousand years passed. Endless time swallowed Xu Fang whole.

It felt as if he had lived through countless cycles of reincarnation.

When Xu Fang came to his senses again, he found an “object” in front of him.

【Xu Fang…】

At the sound of that voice, a certain muddled consciousness instantly snapped awake.

“Number 3?”

【Xu Fang, let’s make a deal.】

【I’ll send you out of here. In exchange, you end our wager.】

【So much time has passed, yet you’re still able to remain conscious. Heh, strange. Very strange…】

【From now on, we’ll never meet again. I promise.】

Xu Fang’s memories felt hazy. He closed his eyes and thought for several seconds without changing his posture.

“Return to the real world? I’m desperate for that right now, but… I refuse.”

【I admit that you’ve won. Now I’ll honor my promise and release all the authors. You care a lot about someone named Luo Xiaoming, right? I’ll bring her back to life too. Can you stop now?】

“Have you started lying through your teeth just to stay alive? Where did that arrogant version of you from the beginning go?”

【Heh heh. I’ve read the novel written from your memories. Xu Fang, I know what kind of person you are. You’re rational, and you care about profit. Destroying the immortal world won’t do you any good. Why don’t we work together…】

“Do you really think that reading someone’s memories means you can completely understand them?”

“I never intended to make you release all the authors from the beginning. My true goal was to completely destroy the immortal world and put an end to this accursed eternity. So I deliberately gave ‘immortality’ as an answer that seemed wrong, leading you step by step into a ‘self-verification trap.’ Looks like I achieved my goal.”

Xu Fang wore a smile, but his tone was ice-cold.

Number 3 stared at him in terror. 【You’re not Xu Fang! Who are you, really? How can you still remain conscious?!】

“Who gets to define whether I am or not? You, you failure?”

The immortal administrator suddenly let out a shriek. 【Then stay trapped here forever, you fool! I’ll tell you this much: you’re only dreaming right now. Once you wake up, endless mental torment will await you again!】

“Watching your downfall in a dream sounds pretty nice to me!”

The empty world shattered, and Xu Fang saw the scenery of the immortal world.

Endless shadows filled the world, each one bizarrely shaped. Some resembled deep-sea creatures, others looked like aliens, and none had a fixed form.

Countless gazes converged on him.

“Gussy—”

Xu Fang touched his throat and realized that he had returned to Gussy’s form.

Had the immortal world grown weaker? It could no longer restrain Xu Fang’s form.

Immortals, as you face the destruction of the immortal world, what are you feeling? Resentment, unwillingness, or perhaps relief?

Their actions gave him the answer.

As far as the eye could see, every immortal bent at the waist and bowed deeply.

It was the most ordinary gesture of respect. But when millions, tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions performed it in perfect unison, the sight was nothing short of breathtaking.

【We salute you.】

Xu Fang stood at the center of the crowd’s worship.

“Where are the other authors?” Xu Fang asked loudly.

The immortals looked at one another. Soon, they opened a path.

Xu Fang lifted his foot and was about to move forward when a hand suddenly seized his slender ankle.

Xu Fang showed no panic at all. He had already lost the panic and fear that belonged to a human being. Calmly, he lowered his head and looked at the thing.

【Destroying the Eternal Life World—the civilization that once existed on Earth. Can you bear the karma this will bring?】

“And yet, you chose destruction yourselves.”

【You, too, don’t, even, think…】

No. 3 didn’t finish speaking. In the next moment, it was swallowed up by an endless tide of immortals, leaving behind not even a final word.

Walking through the passage formed by the crowd, Xu Fang moved beneath the gazes of the immortals.

【Thank you.】

【We’re finally free.】

【It’s over.】

Xu Fang vaguely heard countless voices.

He also saw No. 5 and No. 8. The immortals surrounded them, tore them apart, watched them revive, and then tore them apart again.

The power of the Eternal Life World was growing weaker and weaker. It seemed they wouldn’t be able to revive many more times.

They struggled and let out hoarse roars and screams.

No. 8 spotted Xu Fang. While crying, it called for help: 【Don’t leave me behind. I still want to live…】

【Why? All I wanted was to live!】

Clearly, the immortals themselves weren’t united. Once the immortal masses seized their chance to resist, the final result was like a flood bursting through a breached dam—there was no turning it back.

As for the other immortals, Xu Fang didn’t see them.

This world was heading toward collapse.

“Where are No. 1 and No. 2?” Xu Fang asked the immortals.

The immortals beside him shook their heads. The others did the same.

“Are they dead already? Or did they escape?” Xu Fang muttered. “I still have so many things I wanted to ask them…”

“How long was I in the Void World? Or rather, how long did your voting take?”

【Close, fifty-five minutes.】 One of the immortals, whose body resembled an octopus and was covered in tentacles, said: 【You, consciousness time, slowed, hundred million times. This, limit, here.】

Although the immortal’s ability to express itself was poor, Xu Fang still understood. So his consciousness had been uploaded into the Void World, where time flowed at only one hundred-millionth the speed of the Eternal Life World. Fifty-five minutes had passed outside, while Xu Fang had spent more than ten thousand and four hundred years inside.

“Did the Administrators do something similar to you?”

The octopus immortal trembled, radiating wordless fear.

It didn’t need to say anything. Xu Fang already knew the answer.

…

Fifteen minutes later, Xu Fang found Zhang Empty, Yoriko, and Owen.

All three were their original bodies.

They lay on the ground in strange positions, fast asleep.

Yoriko was snoring, her face filled with happiness. Who knew what kind of wonderful dream she was having?

Empty, on the other hand, had his brows tightly furrowed and his eyes shut tight. He didn’t look like he was doing well.

As for Owen, he looked like a corpse, completely expressionless, his breathing extremely faint.

Xu Fang went to Empty first and nudged him. “Daoist, wake up.”

“Ah!” The Daoist’s eyes flew open. He shouted, “I’m doomed!”

“You’re not doomed. You’re still alive.”

“Ah… Was I dreaming just now?”

Xu Fang briefly explained the situation.

“What? You defeated those immortals? This—this… I…” The Daoist stammered, at a loss for words.

“All right. Go wake Yoriko up. I’ll check on Owen.”

Xu Fang went to Owen’s side and gave him a push. “Time to get up.”

There was no response.

Xu Fang rolled Owen over and smacked him hard across the face.

He still didn’t wake up.

Yoriko’s scream came from nearby:

“Aaaah! There’s a pervert!”

“Whoa, little girl, don’t hit me! I mean you no harm!”

It seemed Yoriko could be woken up—and had plenty of energy to spare.

After a while, the Daoist, one eye bruised, and Yoriko came over to Xu Fang.

“That really was quite a story.” Yoriko sat on the ground, yawned, and said with a grin, “I got my life back once again. I’m so lucky.”

Empty looked at the immortals in the distance. Even though he knew they wouldn’t hurt him anymore, he was still somewhat afraid.

Xu Fang called an immortal over and pointed at Owen on the ground. “Is there any way to wake him up?”

The immortal said: 【Assimilation, already, fast, no wake.】

Yoriko was left speechless. “Big brother, can you speak like a normal person?”

“It means Owen is being assimilated by the Eternal World, so there’s no way to wake him.”

A familiar woman stepped out.

“Bernice?!” The Daoist was startled, then quickly retreated to Xu Fang’s side and went on guard. “When I fell into the hands of those immortal villains, I saw this woman plotting for them more than once.”

“Don’t be nervous. I’m not your enemy.”

“Where are the other authors?” Xu Fang asked.

“They said they were too ashamed to face you, so I’m the only one shameless enough to come. Besides, we can’t really be called authors anymore.”

“You—you betrayed us, didn’t you? Damn you! Damn you!” Yoriko pointed at Bernice and shouted.

“I’ll soon be destroyed along with the Eternal Life World. No matter how you curse me, I’ll accept it. I’m glad you were able to leave this place instead of being enslaved like me. We can’t be called authors anymore. We aren’t even human beings.”

“Could it be that you can’t leave this place?” the Daoist asked.

“I’ve already become part of the Eternal Life World. Soon, I’ll disappear along with it.” Bernice lowered her eyes sadly.

In this Eternal Life World, no one was free—not even in their thoughts—apart from the Thirteen Sequences at the very top.

The moment free thought appeared, the world would be destroyed.

“Has Owen been assimilated too?”

Bernice answered, “Almost completely.”

“Is there any way to wake him?”

“We can try.”

…

Xu Fang and Bernice stood side by side in a bustling city.

Cars streamed past in an endless flow.

Everyone was busy.

“This is a projection of Owen’s mental world.”

“The result simulated by the Boundary-Crossing Test?”

Bernice nodded. A trace of pain surfaced in her eyes. “I was corrupted by all kinds of falsehoods back then. Can you understand what I mean? I lived through countless lives, only to discover in the end that I had merely become a slave of immortality.”

“I understand. The immortals also subjected me to the Boundary-Crossing Test.”

“Then are you all right? I mean, mentally?”

Xu Fang thought for a moment before answering, “The simulation was very real, but there were still some inconsistencies. The experience itself wasn’t too bad. What truly made it unbearable was the emptiness of being unable to die for ten thousand years.”

Bernice covered her mouth in shock. Xu Fang’s description made her uneasy. Perhaps this person’s experience had been even more brutal than hers.

“All right, the person sitting in the middle of the road is Owen, right?”

“Yes. But judging by his condition, he’s beyond saving.”

Xu Fang walked toward Owen step by step, observing him.

Owen sat there numbly, his eyes vacant and an aura of death surrounding his entire body. He showed no reaction at all to Xu Fang’s arrival.

The light in his eyes had already died.

“Do you want to leave this place?” Xu Fang asked.

His reaction was extremely sluggish, as if he were loading his language module.

A moment later, he let out a mocking laugh.

“Leave this place? Leave this hell and go to the next one? I’d rather stay here and wait for death.”

Xu Fang replied, “If you don’t go out and see it for yourself, how do you know it’s hell?”

“It’s useless. I already know your usual tricks. First, you give people hope. Once they’ve tasted the happiness that hope brings, you plunge them into despair when the truth is revealed. Then you repeat the process over and over.”

Xu Fang didn’t know what Owen had been through, but he could imagine it.

The Boundary-Crossing Test had been created specifically to torture people. It could mold a person into any shape.

Using it, the Administrators had ruled the Eternal Life World for countless years.

After enduring countless torments, Owen had fallen into complete depression. No matter what Xu Fang said, Owen would assume the immortals were trying to deceive him.

“Think it over again. There isn’t much time left. Once you cross that critical point, you’ll never have another chance.”

“I have nothing more to say.”

“…All right. I’m leaving. If you want to return to the real world, follow me. If you’ve truly given up, then stay here. After all, even God can’t save someone who has no desire to survive.”

Bernice nodded at Xu Fang. She, too, realized that Owen was beyond saving.

Someone determined to die couldn’t be rescued.

Xu Fang turned and left, but at the final moment, he stopped again.

The Boundary-Crossing Test could indeed simulate many things, but with limited time, it couldn’t exhaust every possibility.

He asked once more.

“You deliberately launched those five thousand nuclear missiles back then, didn’t you?”

Owen’s expression changed behind him, and he raised his head.

“Judging by the outcome, it was the right decision,” Xu Fang said. “What I don’t understand is why you didn’t just tell the truth.”

That day, the Eternal Life Church used five hundred nuclear weapons to seal off Xu Fang’s escape routes.

After infiltrating the launch system, Owen saw the concentrated impact points of those five hundred nuclear missiles and realized the Eternal Life Church’s intention. In the end, he sent the remaining five thousand nuclear missiles to people all over the world.

He hoped to wipe out all the immortals before every author was killed. He had even nearly succeeded.

If the immortals hadn’t planted a hidden spy aboard Moulton’s spaceship ahead of time, they might truly have suffered a disastrous defeat.

“Because I’m a pacifist. Something like that doesn’t fit my Setting.” The man seemed to have been injected with adrenaline. He sprang up from the ground. “Xu Fang, did we really win?”

“Yes. We won.”

“Can we return to the real world?”

“I’m working on it. I need the power of every author.”

“I want to return to the real world too. Can you count me in?”

“Welcome aboard.”

Can I trust you?

Owen really wanted to ask that, but when he met Xu Fang’s gaze, he suddenly understood. Xu Fang had already given him an answer to that question.

This world was full of falsehoods and lies, but Xu Fang was someone you could always trust.

Some people simply couldn’t be imitated. Owen was certain of that now.

Owen finally woke up.

The authors gathered together and went over the situation once again.

“Bernice, after this world is destroyed, can we return to reality?”

Owen grabbed an immortal and asked.

The immortal’s answer was highly abstract, but fortunately, Bernice was there to translate.

“Strictly speaking, this world isn’t being destroyed. It’s falling back into reality. Once it sinks into the ocean of reality, the Eternal Life World will naturally disappear.”

“Will the real world be affected?”

The immortal shook its head, indicating that it didn’t know.

“Looks like we don’t need to do anything. We just have to wait.” Owen pinched the bridge of his nose.

Xu Fang raised a hand, drawing everyone’s attention.

“All right. Before we return to the real world, there’s still one person we need to save. I need your help.”

“Who?”

“The Singularity—or you can call her Luo Xiaoming.”

Owen and Yoriko looked somewhat confused, while Empty still had some impression of her.

“Did you succeed?”

Xu Fang nodded. “At least I stopped her from dying. But it’s difficult to explain her current state.”

He turned to Bernice. “Is Professor Simpson still here? I need his knowledge.”

Bernice shook her head. “The professor was used up as fuel for the ‘Time Weapon.’”

“The Time Weapon?”

“Yes. The Eternal Life Church failed once during its sixth cycle. To reverse the outcome, it used the Time Weapon. The price was consuming an author as fuel.”

Owen was stunned. “Fuck, they’ve got cheats!”

The Daoist said, “Doesn’t that mean the Eternal Life Church can activate the Time Weapon at any moment and turn the situation around?”

Owen suddenly suggested, “Wait. Can you authors who’ve been assimilated be used as fuel to send us back and rescue the ‘Singularity’? Can the Time Weapon support a trip back?”

Bernice was expressing denial—not denying Owen’s deranged statement, of course, but denying the facts themselves.

“There’s no chance anymore—it was destroyed by the immortals that poured in from outside during the vote. They’re hell-bent on dying, and they’ll absolutely stop the immortal world from continuing.”

The Daoist priest sighed. “In ancient times, there was living toward death. Today, there is dying toward life. Only by bravely facing death can one truly embrace life. Otherwise, survival loses its meaning.”

“Xu Fang, I might have a way.” Yoriko suddenly spoke.